82% of US adults read online reviews before buying something for the first time
Outdated Confidence: high
Source found and quoted correctly, but old enough that the market has changed.
- Commonly cited as
- "82% of Americans read reviews before buying"
- True origin
- Pew Research Center — Online reviews and ratings (Dec. 19, 2016)
- Type
- Stat check: A widely repeated statistic traced back to its origin.
- Year
- 2016
- Data as of
- Survey conducted in 2015
- Last checked
- What the source says
Fully 82% of U.S. adults say they at least sometimes read online customer ratings or reviews before purchasing items for the first time, including 40% who say they always or almost always do so.
- Method & sample
- Pew nationally representative survey of US adults (2015). 53% of 18–29-year-olds always or almost always read reviews vs 23% of those 65+.
- Drift between quote and source
- 'At least sometimes', not always (40% always or almost always)
- Age: 2015 data; Pew has not updated it
- Interest
- n/a (nonpartisan research center funded mainly by The Pew Charitable Trusts).
Safe rephrasing
Pew found in 2016 that 82% of US adults at least sometimes read online reviews before a first-time purchase, and 40% always or almost always do; it is older data.
Sources we opened
- Pew — Online reviews and ratings (2016) (primary)
Machine-readable: /api/claims/pew-82-percent-read-online-reviews-before-buying.json · Last checked 2026-10-16